Terry impressed by Villas-Boas

03 August 2011 04:30

John Terry has given a ringing endorsement to Andre Villas-Boas after almost a month working under the new Chelsea manager.

Villas-Boas was appointed just six weeks ago but the 33-year-old's methods have already made a huge impression on Chelsea's seasoned professionals after five victorious pre-season matches.

Captain Terry told Chelsea TV: "He's come in and, really, from day one, he's been on the ball and on the button with us all so we're all intrigued to see what he can bring over the next few weeks and the forthcoming season."

Describing Villas-Boas' style of communication, the England skipper, who is on his ninth manager at club level, continued: "He won't mumble on for 20, 30 minutes at a time. It's quite short, quite brief, but he covers everything, whether that be in training or in the team meetings.

"One thing I've really been impressed with is the training side of things. There's a real emphasis - whether that's because it's pre-season at the moment - on the way he wants us to play, individually, collectively.

"We've done an awful lot of ball work, but I've been really impressed and everyone seems to finally understand the way he wants us to play. Naturally, that's going to take a few more games to get it where we want to be but certainly we're implementing that every day."

He may be on track to improve the quality of Chelsea's football but Villas-Boas will live and die by results, admitting himself that he needs to win something in his maiden season. He could therefore be forgiven for cracking the whip in training to ensure there is no complacency from his new side come the big kick-off in 10 days' time.

But Terry claimed his new boss was far from a slave driver, revealing he had compared notes with Aston Villa and Blackburn players during the recent Barclays Asia Cup in Hong Kong, which Chelsea won.

"Andre is a modern manager," Terry said. "The thing that impresses me, he understands the players. He's not old school.

"I've been speaking to a couple of the other lads at Villa and Blackburn. They're on double sessions and they're busting their guts basically every day. Whereas I think football has moved on a bit from a few years back, and he certainly understands that, and listens, and takes on board what we say."